


Home

by ferrousdraconis



Series: English is for Fanfic [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Backstory, Gen, POV Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Recap of the beginning of KH1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-07-07 10:59:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15906918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ferrousdraconis/pseuds/ferrousdraconis
Summary: What was 'home', really?





	Home

‘Home’. A familiar, vague concept. Home began as white sand and lush forests, waves and the cry of gulls. Home was a modest house just big enough for my mother and I nestled along the shore. It was simple. It was enough.

 

Then came the day when, at 5, I found another boy on the beach. He was small, messy brown hair and big blue eyes. When he saw me his face split into a gap-toothed grin like he’d seen the sun come out. I was not so personable. My mother came out to greet him and I hid behind her skirts, peering out with as much venom as my tiny body could emit. The boy, Sora I learned, was in no way dissuaded. Enough encouragement found us playing together the whole day, building sand castles and splashing in the shallower water. This was our first day, but certainly not the last.

 

As I grew, home became somewhere else. Another, smaller island where the children went to play. Sora and I visited frequently, climbing and exploring the network of treehouses to our hearts’ content.We ran along the beach, racing and play-fighting the others with wooden swords. Yet in the end it was just us, me and Sora and being friends together. It felt like it would never end.

 

A year later a girl washed up onto shore. She was Sora’s age, paler with dark red hair and sea blue eyes. As soon as she had settled in at the mayor’s Sora practically begged to meet her, and of course dragged me along. Her name was Kairi, and no, she didn’t know where she had come from. She didn’t know how she had gotten to Destiny Islands. She didn’t remember much more than her own name. Sora took to her immediately. He invited her to play with us, eat with us, even showed her our secret hideout. Just like that, Sora and Riku became Sora-and-Riku-and-Kairi. I was jealous at first, angry that she had inserted herself between us. But eventually I realized, or was forced to realize, that I was just afraid of being alone again. After that unfortunate bout of stupidity we became fast friends.

 

Soon enough, my home became a prison. Kairi had come from somewhere outside the islands, somewhere unknown. If there were worlds outside of this one I had to know, to see them. As I grew, the urge to escape changed from a whisper to a scream. The ocean became an impassable barrier, the gulls’ cries mocking. I often paced on the beach, looking out over the once calming waves bitterly. By 14 I couldn’t take it anymore. Over lunch I proposed a grand expedition, travel to new lands. The idea caught quickly, and soon the three of us were building a raft. The quality was what one may expect of three teenagers, held together with rope and dreams, but it would be enough. Maps were made, food was gathered, and we were heading out the next day. Finally, I could be free.

 

The storm that night was fierce, and I was stranded on the play island making final preparations for the next day. I ran to take shelter in our Secret Place, a narrow tunnel hidden by vines that led to a small cave. Our drawings littered the rock walls, and tree roots supported the ceiling. The most notable feature was a large wood panel on the back wall, affectionately called The Door. It was taller than any of us, dark with gold fleur de lis around the edges. In all the years we’d played there it had remained blank, mysterious. Yet now, a large keyhole shone in its middle, tempting me towards it. Light filtered into the cave, getting brighter the closer I drew. I became close enough to touch it, and whispers began sounding in my head, echoing off the walls. I could have freedom, strength enough to protect those important to me, if I could only just unlock the door. My arm raised of its own accord, and into my hand flashed a sword? A key? A something that would grant me my wish. I pointed it towards the door, and a beam of light shot forth from it, hitting the Keyhole. It flashed once, almost blinding, before plunging the room into darkness.

 

The next thing I knew was being in the storm again, sitting on the small island we always watched the sunset on. The storm had worsened, dark clouds swirling above. Pieces of wood and earth were being upheaved. And yet all I saw was Sora, running towards me frantically. I stood to ask what was wrong when suddenly dark tendrils began swirling around me. I couldn’t move my feet, only extending an arm for Sora to take, whether in reassurance or fear I don’t know. 

 

He reached.

 

I fell.

 

I awoke amidst strange architecture, under a sky I didn’t know. I had done it, made it to another world. Yet all I could think of was Sora’s hand outstretched into oblivion. I didn’t miss the islands, or worry what had happened to them. I just wanted him to have reached me. Home had never really been a place.

 

My home was Sora.

 

And I had failed him.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for English and my boyfriend said I should post it, so here ya go. Comments and kudos are highly appreciated and there will be more.


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